Systems, methods, and apparatus to monitor media presentations

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods and apparatus to monitor media presentations are disclosed. An example method includes identifying a media presentation device associated with a Domain Name Service (DNS) query based on a public Internet Protocol (IP) address that originated the DNS query and a destination address of the DNS query. A media source is identified based on a domain name requested in the DNS query. Identification of the media presented in association with the DNS query based on at least one of tagging data and metering data is attempted. A panelist associated with the media presentation device is credited with exposure to the identified media from the media source via the media presentation device when the media is identified. The panelist associated with the media presentation device is credited with exposure to media from the media source via the media presentation device when the media is not identified.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to monitoring media presentations,and, more particularly, to systems, methods, and apparatus to monitormedia presentations.

BACKGROUND

Media providers and/or metering entities such as, for example,advertising companies, broadcast networks, etc. are often interested inthe viewing, listening, and/or media behavior of audience members and/orthe public in general. To collect these behaviors and/or interests, anaudience measurement company may enlist panelists (e.g., personsagreeing to have their media exposure habits monitored) to cooperate inan audience measurement study. The viewing behavior of these panelistsas well as demographic data about the panelists is collected and used tostatistically determine (e.g., project, estimate, etc.) the size anddemographics of a larger viewing audience.

In recent years, increasing numbers of consumer devices have beenprovided with Internet connectivity and the ability to retrieve mediafrom the Internet. In some cases, these consumer devices enablereporting of metering data to metering entities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system to monitor mediapresentations.

FIG. 2 is an example implementation of the example central facility ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an example data table representing an association of apanelist with an Internet Protocol (IP) address.

FIG. 4 is an example data table representing an association of the IPaddress of FIG. 3, the query processors of FIG. 2, and the mediapresentation devices of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an example data table representing records of Domain NameService (DNS) queries originating from the IP address of FIG. 3 andreceived by the query processors of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an example data view representing an association of thepanelist of FIG. 3, the media presentation devices of FIGS. 1 and/or 4,and the DNS records of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an example data table representing metering data received fromthe meter of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is an example data table representing tagging data received fromthe media presentation devices of FIGS. 1 and/or 4 in association withthe IP address(es) of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is an example data view representing an association of thepanelist of FIG. 3 and the tagging data of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is an example data view representing an association of thepanelist of FIG. 3 with the tagging data of FIG. 8, the metering data ofFIG. 7, the DNS records of FIG. 5, and the media presentation device ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 11 is a communication diagram illustrating an example order ofcommunication for receiving the DNS records of FIG. 5 and the meteringdata of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is a communication diagram illustrating an example order ofcommunication for receiving the tagging data of FIG. 8 and the meteringdata of FIG. 7.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart representative of example machine-readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the example meter ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart representative of example machine-readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the example meter ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart representative of example machine-readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the example centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 to receive audience measurement data.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart representative of example machine-readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the example centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 to correlate the received audiencemeasurement data of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an example processor platform capable ofexecuting the example machine-readable instructions of FIGS. 13, 14, 15,and/or 16 to implement the example system of FIG. 1, the example meterof FIG. 1, and/or the example central facility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, the term “media” includes any type of content and/oradvertisement, including television programming, radio, movies, websites, etc. Example methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacturedisclosed herein identify media presentation devices and/or types ofmedia presentation devices used for media measurement. Such mediapresentation devices may include, for example, Internet-enabledtelevisions, personal computers, Internet-enabled mobile handsets (e.g.,a smartphone, an iPod®, etc.), video game consoles (e.g., Xbox®,PlayStation® 3, etc.), tablet computers (e.g., an iPad®, a Motorola™Xoom™, etc.), digital media players (e.g., a Roku® media player, aSlingbox®, a Tivo®, etc.), etc. In some examples, identifications ofmedia presentation devices used in consumer locations (e.g., homes,offices, etc.) are aggregated to determine ownership and/or usagestatistics of available media presentation devices, relative rankings ofusage and/or ownership of media presentation devices, type(s) of uses ofmedia presentation devices (e.g., whether a device is used for browsingthe Internet, streaming media from the Internet, etc.), and/or othertype(s) of media presentation device information.

In some disclosed examples, a media presentation device includes anetwork interface to transmit a request for media to be presented by themedia presentation device. In such examples, the media presentationdevice requests media from a media provider via a connected network(e.g., the Internet). In some examples, the request for media is aHyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request, a Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) message, a domain name service (DNS) query, a filetransfer protocol (FTP) request, and/or any other type(s) of request.

Media monitoring entities collect audience measurement data using anumber of different systems and/or methods. In some examples, audiencemeasurement data is collected using Domain Name Service (DNS) queryinformation by, for example, in manners similar to those disclosed inBesehanic, et al. U.S. application Ser. No. 13/329,044 filed on Dec. 16,2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Monitoring DNSquery information enables the audience measurement entity to identify amedia provider (e.g., a media providing service such as, Hulu®,Netflix®, Pandora®, Spotify®, iHeartRadio™, etc.), a media presentationdevice used to present the media (e.g., an Internet enabled television,a gaming console, a personal computer, etc.), a time that the mediapresentation device requested the IP address of the media provider, etc.However, DNS query information does not identify the particular mediathat is presented.

In some examples, the audience measurement data is collected using ametering device (e.g., a set top box) installed at a location of apanelist (e.g., a panelist's home). The example metering device collectsmetering information based on what is being presented in the vicinity ofthe metering device. In some examples, the metering device identifiesthe presented media using codes and/or signatures associated with thepresented media. In some examples, the metering information identifiesthe media presentation device and/or the panelist associated with themedia presentation. The metering information may not identify the sourceof the media (e.g., may not identify a streaming service provider suchas, for example, Hulu®, Netflix®, Pandora®, Spotify®, iHeartRadio™,etc.).

In some examples, the audience measurement data is collected usingtagging information. Tagging information enables monitoring of mediathat might not otherwise be identified by the metering device. To gathertagging information, the media presentation device cooperates with themedia provider and/or a central facility of the audience measuremententity to send tagging information to the audience measurement entity.In particular, an application of the media presentation device (e.g., abrowser, a media presentation application, etc.) detects the presence ofa tag associated with the media. In some examples, the tag isimplemented by metadata such as, for example, an ID3 tag. However, anyother method of tagging media may additionally or alternatively be usedsuch as, for example, an HTML tag such as that disclosed in Blumenau,U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,637, which is incorporated herein by reference.Tagging information identifies the presented media based on theidentified tag(s). In some examples the tagging information identifiesthe media presentation device used to present the media. In someexamples, the tagging information identifies the provider of the media.However, not all media presentation devices and/or applications thereofcooperate with the media provider and/or the central facility to provideand/or collect the tagging information.

With respect to monitoring DNS query information, some networks utilizeInternet Protocol (IP) for communication. Two schemes used to addressnetwork resources in IP networks are: IP addresses and domain names.

The IP address scheme utilizes IP addresses assigned to network devices.For example, a network device might be assigned an IP version 4 (IPv4)address of 192.168.0.2. Any other past, present, and or futureaddressing scheme may additionally or alternatively be used (e.g.,IPV6). In some examples, more than one IP address might be associatedwith one network device. For example, at a first time, the networkdevice might be identified by an IP address of 192.168.0.2, while at asecond time, the network device might be identified by a different IPaddress of 192.168.0.3.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) typically provide a single public IPaddress for each media exposure measurement location (e.g., a mediapresentation location, a panelist household, an internet café, anoffice, etc.) receiving Internet services. In some examples, multipledevices (e.g., media presentation devices) are communicatively coupledby a local area network (LAN) at a media exposure measurement location.In some examples, the LAN includes a router and/or gateway that accessesanother network (e.g., the Internet) using a single public IP addressassociated with the media exposure measurement location and thendistributed media with in to LAN based on a private addressing scheme.

In some examples, within the LAN, individual media presentation devicesare given private IP addresses in accordance with, for example, adynamic host control protocol (DHCP). When a media presentation devicewithin the LAN transmits a request to a resource outside of the LAN(e.g., on the Internet,) the router and/or gateway translates theoriginating (i.e., private) IP address of the device making the query tothe public address of the router and/or gateway before relaying therequest outside of the LAN (e.g., to the Internet). Thus, when aresource outside of the LAN receives the request, the resource is ableto transmit a return message (e.g., a response) to the LAN. On thereturn path, the router and/or gateway employs a local look up table totranslate the destination IP address of the response received from theresource to the private IP address of the requesting device so that thereturn message may be delivered to the media presentation device thatmade the original request.

The second addressing scheme utilizes domain names. Domain names arehuman readable identifiers that identify a network resource. Exampledomain names include “Amazon.com”, “Google.com”, “Nielsen.com”,“HFZLaw.com”, etc. While an IP address of a network resource mightchange over time, the domain name typically remains the same. Domainnames typically remain the same because they are purchased by the mediaprovider as a way for users to easily identify the service or mediaprovided by the media provider. As the IP address of the media providerchanges (e.g., because the media provider is now hosting their servicevia a different server, etc.), the domain name is updated to beassociated with the most recent IP address.

Domain names are accessible via a domain name service (DNS) server. TheDNS server includes records that, for example, identify a current IPaddress associated with a domain name of interest. DNS servers providingDNS services provide for translation between domain names and IPaddresses and vice-versa. For example, a domain name of “mysite.com” maytranslate to an IP address of “38.76.48.143”, a domain name of“subdomainl.mysite.com” may translate to “38.76.48.144”, and a domainname of “subdomain2.mysite.com” may translate to “43.47.167.134”. Toaccess a network resource via a domain name, a network device firstrequests an IP address associated with the domain name of the networkresource from a DNS server. Such a request is sometimes referred to as aDNS query or a DNS lookup. The DNS server provides a response to the DNSquery and/or DNS lookup indicating the IP address associated with therequested domain name. The network device can then send a contentrequest via the Internet to the network resource at the received IPaddress.

In accordance with teachings of this disclosure, one or more DNS serversare used to track DNS queries and/or the devices making such queries.DNS queries are indicative of the identified media presentation devicesrequesting media from a media provider because requests for media aretypically preceded by a DNS query. Therefore, DNS queries may be ofinterest to a media monitoring company. In some examples, a DNS serverstores records of what domain names were queried and the originator ofthe DNS query. Thus, DNS queries from a particular household for aserver and/or resource of a media provider may be indicative of mediapresentations associated with the corresponding media provider in theparticular household.

While a given media exposure measurement location can be identified bythe public IP address assigned by the ISP and identified in a DNS query(e.g., via a DNS lookup), individual devices within the media exposuremeasurement location cannot be identified as easily. In some examplesdisclosed herein, to identify media presentation devices within themedia exposure measurement location, the media presentation devices areeach assigned to separate DNS servers. Thus, although requests for mediaand/or DNS lookups are made from the household using the same public IPaddress, DNS lookup queries for a first device in the LAN/household aredirected to a first DNS server while DNS queries for a second device inthe LAN/household are directed to a second, different DNS server.Although both DNS lookups are performed using the same public IPaddress, the different DNS servers addressed inherently identify whichof the devices in the LAN/household are responsible for the DNS query.Thus, in some examples disclosed herein, multiple DNS servers are usedto associate media requests with different devices within the mediaexposure measurement location. In some examples, one DNS server isprovided per media presentation device within the media exposuremeasurement location. Thus, each media presentation device within themedia exposure measurement location is associated with a respectivedifferent DNS server.

For example, a first device (e.g., an Internet enabled television) isassigned to a first DNS server. The association may be done, forexample, by the respective gateway of the LAN which is programmed tosend DNS queries from the first device within the LAN to the first DNSserver, and DNS queries from a second device to a second DNS server,etc. Additionally or alternatively, the association may be done by therespective gateway of the LAN when DNS settings are communicated to eachmedia presentation device (e.g., during a DHCP procedure). Because theDNS server (or a device analyzing logs of the DNS server) knows that DNSqueries from the (public) IP address of the monitored LAN originate witha particular device (e.g., the first device) within the LAN, when thefirst device transmits a DNS query to the first DNS server, the firstDNS server (or the device analyzing the logs of the first DNS server) isable to associate the DNS query with the media exposure measurementlocation via the public IP address, as well as associate the DNS querywith the first device via the media presentation device to DNS serverassociation.

Some example methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacturedisclosed herein are employed at a media exposure measurement locationhaving multiple media presentation devices. Some of these examplemethods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture are employed at alocation interposed between the media presentation devices and a widearea network (WAN), such as the Internet, that includes one or moremedia providers that provide media in response to request(s) from themedia presentation devices. Some example methods, apparatus, and/orarticles of manufacture disclosed herein intercept and/or recordoutgoing messages to the WAN (e.g., requests from media presentationdevices on the same LAN as the intercepting method, apparatus, orarticle of manufacture).

While monitoring DNS information enables identification of the mediaprovider and/or the media presentation device, DNS information typicallydoes not enable identification of the presented media. Thus, meteringdata (e.g., data identified by a metering device) and/or tagging data(e.g., data used during trackback monitoring) are used to identify mediapresentations.

In some examples, monitoring media using metering data involvesidentifying metadata, codes, and/or signatures associated with mediabeing presented. In examples illustrated herein, a meter (e.g., a settop box) is installed at a location of a panelist (e.g., a home). Theexample meter collects monitoring information based on what is beingpresented in the vicinity of the meter. In some examples, the meterdetects metadata, video, and/or audio signals to identify the media. Insome examples, the meter identifies the presented media using codesand/or signatures associated with the presented media. The meter stores(e.g., caches, buffers, etc.) the identified metadata, codes, and/orsignatures and transmits the stored information to the audiencemeasurement entity for analysis.

Identification codes, such as watermarks, ancillary codes, etc. may betransmitted with and/or within media signals. Identification codes aredata that are transmitted with media (e.g., inserted into the audio,video, or metadata stream of media) to uniquely identify broadcastersand/or media (e.g., content or advertisements), and/or are associatedwith the media for another purpose such as tuning (e.g., packetidentifier headers (“PIDs”) used for digital broadcasting). Codes aretypically extracted using a decoding operation.

Signatures are a representation of some characteristic of the mediasignal (e.g., a characteristic of the frequency spectrum of the signal).Signatures can be thought of as fingerprints. They are typically notdependent upon insertion of identification codes in the media, butinstead preferably reflect an inherent characteristic of the mediaand/or the signal transporting the media. Systems to utilize codesand/or signatures for audience measurement are long known. See, forexample, Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,294, which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

Using the meter at the location of the panelist enables identificationof the media being presented and media events associated therewith(e.g., a start of a media presentation, an end of a media presentation,etc.). However, in some cases, it is difficult for the meter to identifythe media presentation device and/or the source of the presented media(e.g., Hulu®, Netflix®, Pandora®, Spotify®, iHeartRadio™, etc.). Whencombined with DNS monitoring information, it is possible to identify themedia presentation device, the media, and the source of the presentedmedia.

In some examples, the meter might not be able to identify media. Forexample, if a tablet computer (e.g., an iPad®, a Motorola™ Xoom™, etc.)is used to present media, the meter might not detect the presentation ofthe media. In some examples, the meter might detect the presentation ofthe media but might not be able to identify the media because, forexample, the code and/or signature associated with the media are notintelligible. To compensate for such a scenario, tagging data isadditionally or alternatively used to identify what media is presented.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system 100 to monitor mediapresentations. Shown in FIG. 1 are a media provider 105, a network 110,a media presentation location 115, and a central facility. The mediapresentation location 115 includes a network gateway 120, a first mediapresentation device 125 (e.g., an Internet television), a second mediapresentation device 130 (e.g., a gaming console), and a meter 150.

The example media provider 105 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1comprises one or more servers providing Internet media (e.g., web pages,videos, images, etc.). The example media provider 105 may be implementedby any provider(s) of media such as a digital media broadcaster,multicaster, or unicaster (e.g., a cable television service, afiber-optic television service, an IPTV provider, etc.) and/or anon-demand digital media provider (e.g., an Internet streaming videoand/or audio services such as Netflix®, YouTube®, Hulu®, Pandora®,Last.fm®, etc.), a web page, and/or any other provider of media.Additionally or alternatively, the example media provider 105 may not beon the Internet. For example, the media providers may be on a private, avirtual private, and/or semi-private network (e.g., a LAN).

The example network 110 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 is a widearea network (WAN) such as the Internet. However, in some examples,local networks may additionally or alternatively be used. For example,multiple networks may be utilized to couple the components of theexample system 100 to monitor media presentations.

The example media presentation location 115 of the illustrated exampleof FIG. 1 is a panelist household. However, the media presentationlocation 115 may be any other location, such as, for example an internetcafé, an office, an airport, a library, a non-panelist home, etc. Whilein the illustrated example a single media presentation location 115 isshown, any number and/or type(s) of media exposure measurement locationsmay additionally or alternatively be used.

The example network gateway 120 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 isa router that enables the media presentation devices 125, 130 tocommunicate with the network 110 (e.g., the Internet). In some examples,the network gateway 120 includes gateway functionality such as modemcapabilities. In some other examples, the example network gateway 120 isimplemented in two or more devices (e.g., a router, a modem, a switch, afirewall, etc.). In some examples, the example network gateway 120 hostsa LAN for the media exposure presentation location 115. In theillustrated example, the LAN is a wireless local area network (WLAN),and allows the media presentation devices 125, 130 to transmit andreceive data to and/or from the Internet. Alternatively, the networkgateway 120 may be coupled to such a LAN.

The example media presentation devices 125, 130 of FIG. 1 are devicesthat retrieve media from the example media provider 105 for presentationat the media exposure measurement location 115. In some examples, themedia presentation devices 125, 130 are capable of directly presentingmedia (e.g., via a display) while, in some other examples, the mediapresentation devices 125, 130 present the media on separate mediapresentation equipment (e.g., speakers, a display, etc.). Thus, as usedherein “media presentation devices” may or may not be able to presentmedia without assistance from a second device. Media presentationdevices are typically consumer electronics. For example, the first mediapresentation device 125 of the illustrated example is an Internetenabled television, and thus, is capable of directly presenting media(e.g., via an integrated display and speakers). The second mediapresentation device 130 of the illustrated example is a gaming console(e.g., Xbox®, PlayStation® 3, etc.) and employs additional mediapresentation equipment (e.g., a television, speakers, etc.) to presentmedia. In some examples, one or more of the media presentation devices125, 130 of the illustrated example is a personal computer (e.g., atablet, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, etc.) which presentsmedia via an associated display device which may or may not be integralto the computer. While in the illustrated example, an Internet enabledtelevision, and a gaming console are shown, any other type(s) and/ornumber(s) of media presentation device(s) may additionally oralternatively be used. For example, Internet-enabled mobile handsets(e.g., a smartphone, an iPod®, etc.), video game consoles (e.g., Xbox®,PlayStation® 3, etc.), tablet computers (e.g., an iPad®, a Motorola™Xoom™, etc.) digital media players (e.g., a Roku® media player, aSlingbox®, a Tivo®, etc.), personal computers (e.g., a desktop computer,a laptop computer, a netbook, etc.), etc. may additionally oralternatively be used. Thus, while in the illustrated example two mediapresentation devices are shown, any number of media presentation devicesmay be used.

The example meter 150 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 includes anetwork communicator 152, a media identifier 154, a timestamper 156, anda metering data store 158. The example meter 150 identifies mediapresentation events (e.g., start events, stop events, etc.) andidentifies the presented media associated with those events. In someexamples, the meter 150 includes people metering functionality whichdetects individual panelists present in the vicinity of the meter 150 toidentify individuals to whom the identified media was presented. In someexamples, this functionality is provided by a separate people meter.

The example network communicator 152 of the illustrated example of FIG.1 is an Ethernet interface. In the illustrated example, the networkcommunicator 152 transmits metering data identified by the meter 150 tothe central facility 170 via the network 110. While in the illustratedexample, the network communicator 152 is an Ethernet interface, anyother type(s) of interface may additionally or alternatively be used.For example, the network communicator 152 might include one or more of aBluetooth interface, a WiFi interface, a digital subscriber line (DSL)interface, a T1 interface, etc. While in the illustrated example asingle network communicator 152 is shown, any number and/or type(s) ofnetwork communicators may additionally or alternatively be used.

The example media identifier 154 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 isimplemented by a processor executing instructions, but it couldalternatively be implemented by an application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), or analog and/or digital othercircuitry. In the illustrated example, the media identifier 154identifies media presentation events from data and/or signals collectedby and/or input to the meter 150 in any manner (e.g., free field audiodetected by the meter 150 with a microphone exposed to ambient sound).In the example of FIG. 1, the media identifier 154 extracts and/oranalyzes codes and/or signatures from data and/or signals collected byand/or input to the meter 150. The metadata, codes, signatures, and/oridentifications of the media are stored in the metering data store 158.

The example timestamper 156 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 isimplemented by a processor executing instructions, but couldalternatively be implemented by an ASIC, DSP, FPGA, or other analogand/or digital circuitry. The media identifier 154 and the timestamper156 may be implemented by the same physical processor. In theillustrated example of FIG. 1, the timestamper 156 timestamps mediaidentifications stored in the metering data store 158 by the mediaidentifier. Timestamping (e.g., recording a time and/or a date that anevent occurred) enables accurate identification and/or correlation ofmedia that was presented with persons in the audience.

The example metering data store 158 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1may be implemented by any device for storing data such as, for example,flash memory, magnetic media, optical media, etc. Furthermore, the datastored in the metering data store 158 may be in any data format such as,for example, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data,structured query language (SQL) structures, etc. While in theillustrated example the metering data store 158 is illustrated as asingle database, the metering data store 158 may be implemented by anynumber and/or type(s) of databases.

The example central facility 170 of the illustrated example isimplemented by one or more servers that collect and process audiencemeasurement data (e.g., metering data, DNS requests, tagging data, etc.)from the media presentation devices 125, 130 and/or the meter 150 (e.g.,via the gateway 120) to generate media monitoring information and/orreports. The central facility 170 analyzes the audience measurement datato identify, for example, which media presentation devices are themost-frequently owned, which media presentation device are themost-frequently used, which media presentation device are theleast-frequently owned, which media presentation device are theleast-frequently used, which media providers are themost/least-frequently used, when particular media is presented, and/orany other media statistics or information that may be determined fromthe data. In some examples, the central facility 170 analyzes theaudience measurement data to identify the most/least-frequently usedtype(s) of media presentation devices for particular type(s) and/orgenre(s) of media. The audience measurement data may also be correlatedor processed with factors such as demographic and/or geodemographic data(e.g., a geographic location of the media exposure measurement location,age(s) of the panelist(s) associated with the media presentationlocation, an income level of a panelist, etc.) to facilitateextrapolation and/or projection of media exposure to population(s) ofinterest. Media presentation device information may be useful tomanufacturers and/or advertisers to determine which features should beimproved, determine which features are popular among users, identifygeodemographic trends with respect to media presentation devices,identify market opportunities, develop and/or create advertisementsand/or advertisement campaigns, determine amounts to be paid foradvertisements, and/or otherwise evaluate their own and/or theircompetitors' products and/or marketing efforts. Media providerinformation may be useful to media providers, advertisers, etc. todetermine costs of advertisements broadcast by the media provider,comparative levels of customers that use different media providers, etc.

FIG. 2 is an example implementation of the example central facility ofFIG. 1. The example central facility 170 includes a registrar 210, apanelist information data store 215, a metering data receiver 220, ametering data store 225, a first query processor 230, a second queryprocessor 232, a DNS data store 235, a tag data receiver 240, a taggingdata store 245, a timestamper 250, a correlator 255, an audiencemeasurement processor 260, and a reporter 270.

The example registrar 210 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 isimplemented by a processor executing instructions, but it couldalternatively be implemented by an application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), or other circuitry. In theexample of FIG. 2, the registrar 210 receives registration data and/orinformation from a panelist and creates a record identifying thepanelist and/or their respective media presentation devices 125, 130.The registration data is then stored in the panelist information datastore 215 in or in association with the record. In the illustratedexample, the received registration data includes demographicinformation. However, any other information may additionally oralternatively be collected. The registration data may include, forexample, information identifying the type(s), number(s), model(s), etc.of media presentation device(s) associated with the panelist, a physicalmailing address associated with the panelist, an email addressassociated with the panelist, information regarding how the panelistreceives Internet services (e.g., Internet Service Provider (ISP)information), a unique identifier of the panelist (e.g., a public IPaddress associated with the panelist and/or any combination orderivation of any information related to the panelist and/or mediapresentation device(s)), the age of the panelist, the gender of thepanelist, the race of the panelist, the marital status of the panelist,the income of the panelist and/or the household of the panelist, theemployment status of the panelist, where the panelist typically intendsto use their media presentation device(s), how long the panelist hasowned their device(s), the education level of the panelist and/or anyother information related to the panelist or the media presentationdevice (s). The panelist information data store 215 of the illustratedexample reflects any relationships between panelists such as, forexample, which panelists belong to the same household.

In the illustrated example, the registration data is received by theregistrar 210 via an electronic interface (e.g., by a panelist enteringdata into a form at a website or answering survey questions at awebsite). However, the registrar 210 may receive the registration datain other ways. For example, the registrar 210 may receive theregistration data via a personal interview (by telephone and/or inperson), an automated telephone interface, direct mailing, purchasedlists, a third party service, etc. While the registrar 210 of theillustrated example is an electronic system, the registrar 210 mayalternatively be implemented manually by a person or group of peoplecollecting and/or entering the registration data into the panelistinformation data store 215.

Upon receiving the registration data, the registrar 210 of theillustrated example creates a record associating the panelist, the mediapresentation device(s) associated with the panelist, and the collecteddemographic information. The registrar 210 of the illustrated examplealso assigns a unique alphanumeric identifier to the panelist or mediapresentation device(s). The identifier may be based on, for example, amodel number and/or type of the media presentation device. The record isstored in the panelist information data store 215. In the illustratedexample, the registrar 210 determines a public IP address associatedwith the panelist and/or media exposure measurement location and storesthe public IP address in the record (or in association with the recordfor that panelist and/or media exposure measurement location.) In someexamples, the registrar 210 determines the public IP address associatedwith the panelist and/or media exposure measurement location byperforming a DNS lookup. Additionally or alternatively, the registrar210 might determine the public IP address associated with the panelistand/or media exposure measurement location by inspecting an IP addressfield of the registration data when the registration data is submittedelectronically.

In some examples, when an ISP assigns a public IP address to a mediaexposure measurement location, the public IP address is a dynamic IPaddress. Dynamic IP addresses are typically leased to media exposuremeasurement locations for a specified period of time (e.g., one week,one month, etc.). Upon expiration of the specified period of time, adifferent public IP address may be assigned to the media exposuremeasurement location. Thus, the registrar 210 may receive a public IPaddress associated with the media exposure measurement location thatbecomes invalid or assigned to a different media exposure measurementlocation upon expiration of the IP address lease. Accordingly, in someexamples, a dynamic DNS system is used to associate a media exposuremeasurement location with a dynamic IP address. When the public IPaddress of the media exposure measurement location changes, a device onthe LAN (e.g., the network gateway 120, the media presentation devices125, 130, the meter 150, etc.) updates a dynamic DNS record hosted by adynamic DNS service to associate a dynamic DNS domain name with thenewly leased public IP address. In some examples, the registrar 210monitors the dynamic DNS domain name at the dynamic DNS service todetermine if the public IP address associated with the media exposuremeasurement location has changed and, upon detecting a change, updatesthe records stored in the panelist information data store 215. In someexamples, the registrar 210 monitors the dynamic DNS service todetermine the domain name associated with a public IP address via, forexample, a reverse domain name service query. In some examples, theregistrar 210 hosts the dynamic DNS service and updates the recordsstored in the panelist information data store 215 upon receiving anotification from a device on the LAN (e.g., the network gateway 120,the media presentation devices 125, 130, the meter 150, etc.) that thepublic IP address associated with the media exposure measurementlocation has changed.

In some examples, the registrar 210 associates the media presentationdevices 125, 130 with a corresponding query processor 230, 232. In theillustrated example, each media presentation device 125, 130 sharing asame public IP addresses is associated with a different query processor230, 232. However, media presentation devices from different mediaexposure measurement locations (i.e., having different public IPaddresses) may be associated with the same query processor 230, 232.When associating the media presentation devices 125, 130 with a specificquery processor 230, 232, the registrar 210 of the illustrated examplebalances the number of media presentation devices associated withvarious query processors 230, 232. For example, if a particular queryprocessor 230, 232 is associated with a large number of mediapresentation devices (e.g., ten thousand devices), the registrar 210 mayassociate the media presentation device with another, different, queryprocessor 230, 232 that is presently associated with fewer mediapresentation devices.

In the illustrated example, after the registrar 210 has receivedregistration data and associated the media presentation devices 125, 130with the corresponding query processors 230, 232, the registrar 210 ofthe illustrated example creates an instruction document. The instructiondocument of the illustrated example instructs the panelist to enterinformation regarding the DNS server association into the mediapresentation device(s) 125, 130 associated with the panelist and/or themedia presentation location 115. Additionally or alternatively, theinstruction document may instruct an installer from a media monitoringcompany or anyone else who may configure and/or program the mediapresentation device(s) 150, 155, and/or 160. In the illustrated example,the instruction document is electronically transmitted to the panelist.For example, the instruction document may be transmitted to an emailaddress associated with the panelist. However, in some examples, theinstruction document is physically sent to the panelist (e.g., bymailing a printed form of the instruction document through a postalservice such as the U.S. mail, etc.).

The example panelist information data store 215 of the illustratedexample of FIG. 2 may be implemented by any device for storing data suchas, for example, flash memory, magnetic media, optical media, etc.Furthermore, the data stored in the panelist information data store 215may be in any data format such as, for example, binary data, commadelimited data, tab delimited data, structured query language (SQL)structures, etc. While in the illustrated example the panelistinformation data store 215 is illustrated as a single database, thepanelist information data store 215 may be implemented by any numberand/or type(s) of databases and/or may be combined with any otherdatabase such as, for example, the metering data store 225, the DNS datastore 235, and/or the tagging data store 245.

The example metering data receiver 220 is implemented by a processorexecuting instructions, but it could alternatively be implemented by anASIC, PLD, FPLD, and/or other circuitry. The registrar 210, and/or themetering data receiver 220 may be implemented by the same physicalprocessor. In the example of FIG. 2, the metering data receiver 220receives metering data from the meter 150 and stores a recordidentifying the panelist, the media that was identified and/oridentifying information thereof, etc. The metering data is stored in themetering data store 225. In the illustrated example, the receivedmetering data includes a panelist identifier, a timestamp identifying amedia presentation event (e.g., a start, a stop, etc.), a type of themedia presentation event, data associated with the media presentationevent, a detected media presentation device, etc. However, any otherinformation may additionally or alternatively be collected.

The example metering data store 225 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2may be implemented by any device for storing data such as, for example,flash memory, magnetic media, optical media, etc. Furthermore, the datastored in the metering data store 225 may be in any data format such as,for example, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data,structured query language (SQL) structures, etc. While in theillustrated example the metering data store 225 is illustrated as asingle database, the metering data store 225 may be implemented by anynumber and/or type(s) of databases and/or may be combined with any otherdatabase such as, for example, the panelist information data store 215,the DNS data store 235, and/or the tagging data store 245.

The central facility 170 of the illustrated example includes one or morequery processor(s) 230, 232. In the illustrated example, each mediapresentation device 125, 130 within a particular media presentationlocation (e.g., the location 115) is associated with a respectivedifferent query processor 230, 232. Thus, when a given query processor230, 232 receives a DNS query from a public IP address of the particularmedia presentation location 115, the central facility 170 is able toinherently identify the media device that originated the query based ona public IP address of the media exposure measurement location (e.g.,the location 115) because all requests from that given public IP addresscome from a certain media presentation device. In other words, thecombination of the network address of the query processor 125, 130(e.g., a destination address) and the origintating public IP address(e.g., the originating address) specifically identifies a particularoriginating device (e.g., a media presentation device). The requestsand/or identifying information thereof are stored in the DNS data store235.

Each query processor 230, 232 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2implements, is implemented at, or is otherwise associated with arespective DNS server. Each query processor 230, 232 may receive DNSqueries from the same public IP address of the monitored location (e.g.,the location 115). In some examples, each query processor 230, 232responds to a DNS query with the same requested DNS information in thesame manner as a conventional DNS server. In other examples, the queryprocessor 230, 232 does not actually return the requested DNSinformation in response to a DNS query, but instead responds to the DNSquery with a redirect message, to redirect the querying device (e.g., amedia presentation device) to a different DNS server. In some suchexamples, the query processor may not be implemented by and/or implementa conventional DNS server, but instead may be thought of as a pseudo-DNSserver whose function is to log DNS queries and to redirect such queriesto a conventional DNS server for service, but which does not actuallycontain a domain name to IP address lookup table.

In examples where more than one query processor(s) 230, 232 are used,the query processor(s) 230, 232 are identified by different IPaddresses. For example, a first query processor 230 might have a firstIP address, while a second query processor 232 might have a second IPaddress different from the first IP address. Thus, when respective mediadevices (e.g., media presentation devices) are associated withrespective ones of the query processors 230, 232, a first media devicemay be associated with, and should make DNS queries to, the first IPaddress (e.g., to the first query processor 230) while a second mediadevice may be associated with, and should make DNS queries to, thesecond IP address (e.g., to the second query processor 232). Further, insome examples, virtual IP addresses are used, thereby enabling multiplequery processor(s) 230, 232 to be associated with a single physicalconnection to the network 110.

Each of the query processors 230, 232 of the illustrated example of FIG.2 is implemented by a processor executing instructions, but they couldalternatively be implemented by an ASIC, DSP, FPGA, or other circuitry.The query processors 230, 232, the registrar 210, and/or the meteringdata receiver 220 may be implemented by the same physical processor. Inthe illustrated example, the query processors 230, 232 function aspseudo-DNS server(s) (e.g., a DNS server with no translationfunctionality), and respond to DNS queries with DNS redirect messages.In some examples, some or all of the query processors 230, 232 implementconventional DNS servers, where the query processors 230, 232 receiveDNS queries and respond to the queries with the requested DNSinformation. In some examples, some or all of the query processors 230,232 function as DNS proxies and retrieve DNS information from a separateDNS server on behalf of the DNS query originating device. Additionallyor alternatively, the query processors 230, 232 may cache and/or storeDNS information from the separate DNS server so that DNS information maymore quickly be transmitted in response to future received DNS queries.

The example DNS data store 235 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 maybe implemented by any device for storing data such as, for example,flash memory, magnetic media, optical media, etc. Furthermore, the datastored in the DNS data store 235 may be in any data format such as, forexample, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data,structured query language (SQL) structures, etc. While in theillustrated example the DNS data store 235 is illustrated as a singledatabase, the DNS data store 235 may be implemented by any number and/ortype(s) of databases and/or may be combined with any other database suchas, for example, the panelist information data store 215, the meteringdata store 225, and/or the tagging data store 245.

The example tag data receiver 240 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2is implemented by a processor executing instructions, but they couldalternatively be implemented by an ASIC, DSP, FPGA, or other circuitry.The, the registrar 210, the metering data receiver 220, query processors230, 232, and/or the tag data receiver 240 may be implemented by thesame physical processor. In the illustrated example, the tag datareceiver 240 receives tagging data data from the media presentationdevices 125, 130. In the illustrated example, the tagging data includesan IP address and/or an identifier of the panelist, a timestamp, and/ordata representing and/or indicative of the presented media.

The example tagging data store 245 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2may be implemented by any device for storing data such as, for example,flash memory, magnetic media, optical media, etc. Furthermore, the datastored in the tagging data store 245 may be in any data format such as,for example, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data,structured query language (SQL) structures, etc. While in theillustrated example the tagging data store 245 is illustrated as asingle database, the tagging data store 245 may be implemented by anynumber and/or type(s) of databases and/or may be combined with any otherdatabase such as, for example, the panelist information data store 215,the metering data store 225, and/or the DNS data store 235.

The timestamper 250 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is implementedby a processor executing instructions, but could alternatively beimplemented by an ASIC, DSP, FPGA, or other analog and/or digitalcircuitry. The registrar 210, the metering data receiver 220, the queryprocessors 230, 232, the tag data receiver 240, and/or the timestamper250 may be implemented by the same physical processor. In theillustrated example of FIG. 2, the timestamper 250 timestamps dataand/or information received by the registrar 210, the metering datareceiver 220, the query processors 230, 232, and/or the tag datareceiver 240 upon receipt. Timestamping (e.g., recording a time and/ordate that an event occurred) enables accurate identification and/orcorrelation of media that was presented and/or the time that it waspresented.

The example correlator 255 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 isimplemented by a processor executing instructions, but it couldalternatively be implemented by an ASIC, DSP, FPGA, or other circuitry.The correlator 255 may be implemented on the same physical processor asthe registrar 210, the metering data receiver 220, the query processors230, 232, the tag data receiver 240, and/or the timestamper 250. In theillustrated example, the correlator 255 correlates data and/orinformation stored in the panelist information data store 215, themetering data store 225, the DNS data store 235, and/or the tagging datastore 245. The correlator 255 identifies the media exposure measurementlocation 115 and/or the panelist by associating the public IP address ofreceived DNS queries with a record of the public IP address associatedwith the media exposure measurement location stored in the panelistinformation data store 215. In some examples, the correlator 255identifies a DNS query originating device (e.g., a media presentationdevice 125, 130) of the DNS query based on the association of the queryprocessor 230, 232 and the media exposure measurement location 140stored in the panelist information data store 215.

The example audience measurement processor 260 of the illustratedexample of FIG. 2 credits the panelist associated with the mediapresentation location 115, and/or the media presentation device 125, 130with an exposure to the media identified in the received metering data(e.g., the data received by the metering data receiver 220), the DNSdata (e.g., the data received by the query processor(s) 230, 232),and/or the tagging data (e.g., the data received by the tag datareceiver 240). In the illustrated example, the audience measurementprocessor 260 is implemented by a processor executing instructions, butit could alternatively be implemented by an ASIC, DSP, FPGA, or othercircuitry. The audience measurement processor 260 may be implemented onthe same physical processor as the registrar 210, the metering datareceiver 220, the query processors 230, 232, the tag data receiver 240,the timestamper 250, and/or the correlator 255.

The example reporter 270 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 isimplemented by a processor executing instructions, but it couldalternatively be implemented by an ASIC, DSP, FPGA, or other circuitry.The reporter 270 may be implemented on the same physical processor asthe registrar 210, the metering data receiver 220, the query processors230, 232, the tag data receiver 240, the timestamper 250, the correlator255, and/or the audience measurement processor 260. The reporter 270generates reports indicative of media exposure metrics based on one ormore different types of client devices (e.g., personal computers,portable devices, mobile phones, tablets, etc.). For example, thereporter 270 compiles media exposure metrics based the correlation ofthe metering data, the DNS data, and/or the tagging data, and/or on thecrediting thereof. A report is then generated based on the creditingperformed by the audience measurement processor 260 to indicate exposuremeasurements (e.g., for a type of media (e.g., a genre)) using differenttypes of client devices. In some examples, the exposure measurementsindicate ratings information for different media (e.g., a particulartelevision show, a particular website, a particular movie, etc.) In someexamples, the exposure measurements indicate ratings information fordifferent media providers. However, in some other examples, the reportidentifies information specific to particular types of media. Thus, forexample, reports indicating the popularity of watching, for instance,sports events on certain types of client devices (e.g., mobile devices,tablets, etc.) can be compared to other popularities of watching sportsevents on other types of client devices (e.g., televisions, personalcomputers, etc.).

Additionally or alternatively, popularities of different types of mediaacross different device types may be reported. Such different types ofmedia may be, for example, news, movies, television programming,on-demand media, Internet-based media, games, streaming games,advertisements, etc. Such comparisons may be made across any type(s)and/or numbers of devices including, for example, cell phones, smartphones, dedicated portable multimedia playback devices, iPod® devices,tablet computing devices (e.g., an iPad®), standard-definition (SD)televisions, high-definition (HD) televisions, three-dimensional (3D)televisions, stationary computers, portable computers, Internet radios,etc. Any other type(s) and/or number of media and/or devices may beanalyzed. The report may also associate the media exposure metrics withdemographic segments (e.g., age groups, genders, ethnicities, etc.)corresponding to the user(s) of the client device(s). Additionally oralternatively, the report may associate the media exposure metrics withmetric indicators of the popularity of the artist, genre, song, title,etc., across one or more user characteristics selected from one or moredemographic segment(s), one or more age group(s), one or more gender(s),and/or any other user characteristic(s).

In some examples, the media exposure metrics are used to determinedemographic reach of streaming media, ratings for streaming media,engagement indices for streaming media, user affinities associated withstreaming media, broadcast media, and/or any other audience measuremetric associated with streaming media and/or locally stored media.While in the illustrated example, the media exposure metrics are used toprovide information for streaming media, the media exposure metrics maybe used to provide information for any other type of media such as, forexample, websites, non-streaming media, etc. In some examples, the mediaexposure metrics are audience share metrics indicative of percentages ofaudiences for different device types that accessed the same media. Forexample, a first percentage of an audience may be exposed to news mediavia smart phones, while a second percentage of the audience may beexposed to the same news media via tablets.

FIG. 3 is an example data table 300 that may be stored at the centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. The example data table 300 represents anassociation of a panelist with their respective Internet Protocol (IP)address. The example data table 300 of FIG. 3 is stored in the panelistinformation data store 215. However, the example data table 300 may bestored in any other location. The example data table 300 of FIG. 3includes a first IP address 305 in association with a first panelist 310and in further association with demographic information 315 related tothe first panelist 310. The example data table 300 includes a second IPaddress 320 in association with a second panelist 325 and in furtherassociation with demographic information 330 related to the secondpanelist 325.

While in the illustrated example the IP addresses 305, 310, the panelistidentifiers 310, 325, and the demographic information 315, 330 arestored in the same data table 300, in some examples the IP addresses305, 310, the panelist identifiers 310, 325, and the demographicinformation 315, 330 may be stored in separate data tables. For example,the IP addresses 305, 320 and the panelist identifiers 310, 325 may bestored in a first data table while the panelist identifiers 310, 325 maybe stored in a second data table 315, 330.

FIG. 4 is an example data table 400 that may be stored at the centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. The example data table 400 of FIG. 4represents association(s) of the IP address(S) of FIG. 3 with respectiveones of the query processors of FIG. 2 and the media presentationdevices of FIG. 1. The example data table 400 of FIG. 4 is stored in thepanelist information data store 215. However, the example data table 400may be stored in any other location. Each row of the example data table400 includes an IP address, a query processor 230, 232, and anidentifier 420, 425, 430 of a media presentation device 125, 130 of aparticular panelist. The data table 400 enables the correlator 255 toidentify the panelist 310, 325 and/or the media presentation device 420,425, 430 associated with a DNS query based on the originating IP address305, 320 and the destination address of the query processor 230, 232 towhich the DNS query was directed. While in the illustrated example eachrecord associates the query processor 230, 232 and the mediapresentation device based on the originating IP address 305, 320, insome examples the panelist identifier 310, 325 is additionally oralternatively used to associate the query processor 230, 232 and themedia presentation device.

FIG. 5 is an example data table 500 that may be stored at the centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. The example data table of FIG. 5represents records of Domain Name Service (DNS) queries originating fromthe IP address of FIG. 3 and received by the query processors of FIG. 2.The example data table 500 of FIG. 5 is stored in the DNS data store215. However, the example data table 500 may be stored in any otherlocation. The example data table 500 includes records 510, 520, 530 ofDNS queries received by the query processors 230, 232. However anynumber of records may additionally or alternatively be included. Theexample data table 500 records the IP address that originated the DNSquery, the query processor 230, 232 that received the DNS query, adomain that was requested in the DNS query 550, 555, and a timestamp ofwhen each DNS query was received 512, 522, 532. As described inconnection with FIG. 6, storing the requesting IP address 305, 320 andthe query processor receiving each DNS query 230, 232 enables thecorrelator 255 to identify the panelist associated with the DNS query aswell as the media presentation device 420, 425, 430 that made the DNSquery.

FIG. 6 is an example data view 600 that may be stored and/or generatedat the central facility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. In this example, records610, 620, 630 represent an association between the panelist of FIG. 3,the media presentation devices of FIGS. 1 and/or 4, and the DNS recordsof FIG. 5. While in the illustrated example three records are shown, anyother number of records may additionally or alternatively be included.In the illustrated example, the data view 600 of FIG. 6 is stored in theDNS data store 235 and/or generated by the correlator 255. The exampledata view 600 includes a panelist identifier 310, 325, an identifier ofthe corresponding media presentation device 420, 425, 430, the providerdomain 550, 555 requested by the media presentation device 420, 425, 430of the panelist 310, 325, and a timestamp of when the DNS request wasreceived. In the illustrated example, the data view 600 enables thecorrelator 255 and/or the audience measurement processor 260 to creditthe panelist 305, 320 with exposure to media received from the requesteddomain 550, 555 via the media presentation device 420, 425, 430.

FIG. 7 is an example data table 700 that may be stored at the centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. The example data table 700 of FIG. 7represents metering data received from the meter of FIG. 1. The exampledata table 700 of FIG. 7 is stored in the metering data store 225.However, the example data table 700 may be stored in any other location.The example data table 700 includes records 705, 710, 715, 720, 725,730, 725 representing events associated with metering data received bythe metering data receiver 220. The example data table 700 records apanelist identifier 310, 320, a timestamp 770, 775, 780, 785, 790, 795,797, media presentation events 771, 776, 781, 786, 791, 796, 798, mediapresentation data 777, and an identified media presentation device 420,425, 730.

In the example of FIG. 7, the record 705 indicates that the meter 150associated with the first panelist 310 identified a media start event771 at 7:00 PM 770 with respect to a presentation by the Internettelevision 420. The record 710 indicates that the meter 150 associatedwith the first panelist 310 identified 776 that television show A 777was presented by the Internet Television 420 at 7:03 PM 775. While inthe illustrated example the television show A 777 is identified, anyother media may additionally or alternatively be identified such as, forexample, advertisements, radio, etc. The record 715 indicates that themeter 150 associated with the first panelist 310 identified a media stopevent 780 at 8:00 PM 780 with respect to the presentation by theInternet television 420.

In the example of FIG. 7, the record 720 indicates that the meter 150associated with the first panelist 310 identified a media start event786 at 9:30 PM 785 with respect to a presentation by the gaming console425. In the illustrated example, the media presented by the gamingconsole 425 is not identified by the meter 150. However, as explained inconnection with FIGS. 8, 9, and/or 10 the received tagging data enablesthe media presented by the gaming console 425 to be identified. Therecord 725 indicates that the meter 150 associated with the firstpanelist 310 identified a media stop event 791 at 10:00 PM 790 withrespect to a presentation by the gaming console 425.

In the illustrated example, the record 730 indicates that the meter 150associated with the second panelist 325 identified a media start event796 at 10:30 PM 795 with respect to a presentation by the Internettelevision 430. In the illustrated example, the media presented by theInternet television 430 is not identified by the meter 150 and is notidentified by tagging data. However, as explained in connection withFIG. 10, the correlator 255 is able to determine that media waspresented via the domain 555 via the Internet television 430. The record735 indicates that the meter 150 associated with the second panelist 325identified a media stop event 798 at 11:30 PM 797 with respect to apresentation by the Internet television 430.

While in the illustrated example each record indicates a particularevent (e.g., a media start event, a media stop event, a mediaidentification event, etc.) any other data table configuration mayadditionally or alternatively be used. For example, each record mayindicate a media start event, a media stop event, whether the media wasidentified and/or identification data for the identified media.

FIG. 8 is an example data table 800 that may be stored at the centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. The example data table 800 of FIG. 8represents tagging data received from the media presentation devices ofFIGS. 1 and/or 4 in association with the IP address(es) of FIG. 3. Theexample data table 800 of FIG. 8 is stored in the tagging data store245. However, the example data table 800 may be stored in any otherlocation. The example data table 800 includes record 805 representingtagging information received via the tag data receiver 240. The exampledata table 800 records a source address 305 from which the tag data wasreceived, a timestamp 820 of when the tag data was received, and the tagdata indicating that television show B 830 was received. While in theillustrated example a television show is identified, any other type ofmedia may additionally or alternatively be identified such as, forexample, radio, advertisements, etc.

FIG. 9 is an example data view 900 that may be stored and/or generatedat the central facility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. In the example of FIG. 9,record 905 represents an association of the panelist of FIG. 3 and thetagging data of FIG. 8. While in the illustrated example one record isshown, any other number of records may additionally be included. In theillustrated example, the data view 900 of FIG. 9 is stored in thetagging data store 245 and/or generated by the correlator 255. Theexample data view 900 includes a panelist identifier 310, 320, atimestamp 820, and the tag data indicating that television show B 830was received. In the illustrated example, the data view 900 enables thecorrelator 255 and/or the audience measurement processor 260 to creditthe panelist 310, 325 with exposure to the identified media 830.

FIG. 10 is an example data view 1000 that may be stored and/or generatedat the central facility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. The data view 1000 of theillustrated example of FIG. 10 includes records 1005, 1010, 1015representing an association of the panelist of FIG. 3 with the taggingdata of FIG. 8, the metering data of FIG. 7, the DNS records of FIG. 5,and the media presentation device of FIG. 4. While in the illustratedexample three records are shown, any other number of records mayadditionally or alternatively be included. In the illustrated example,the data view 1000 of FIG. 10 is generated by the correlator 255 and/orstored in at least one of the panelist information data store 215, themetering data store 225, the DNS data store 235, and/or the tagging datastore 245.

In the example of FIG. 10, the first record 1005 of the example dataview 1000 includes the panelist identifier 310, the timestamp 775indicating that the television show A 777 was identified at 7:03 PM. Thefirst record 1005 further identifies that the media was provided byNetflix.com 550 and was presented via the Internet television 420. Thesecond record 1010 of the example data view 1000 includes the panelistidentifier 310, the timestamp 820 indicating that the television show B830 was identified at 9:31 PM. The second record 1010 further identifiesthat the media was provided by Hulu.com 555 and was presented via thegaming console 425. The third record 1015 of the example data view 1000includes the panelist identifier 325, the timestamp 785 indicating thatmedia was presented at 10:30 PM. The third record 1015 does not identifythe media that was presented, but does identify that the media wasprovided by Hulu.com 555 and was presented via the Internet television430.

FIG. 11 is a communication diagram 1100 illustrating an example order ofcommunication for receiving the DNS records of FIG. 5 and the meteringdata of FIG. 7. The example order of communication represents the eventsthat result in the example record 1005 of FIG. 10. The example order ofcommunication begins when the first media presentation device 125 beginspresenting media (block 1105). The first media presentation device 125transmits a DNS query to the associated DNS query processor 230, and theDNS query processor 230 stores the DNS query and/or informationassociated therewith in the DNS data store 235 (block 1110). The firstmedia presentation device 125 requests the media from the serviceprovider identified by the DNS query and begins presenting the media.

The meter 150 identifies and records the media start event (e.g., record705) (block 1115), and attempts to identify the presented media (block1120). In the illustrated example, the meter 150 identifies thepresented media using any media identification method(s) (e.g.,metadata, codes, and/or signatures) that identify the media. The meter150 then stores the media identification (e.g., record 710) (block1125). The media presentation device 125 ends the media presentation(block 1130). Responsive to the end of the media presentation, the meter150 identifies and records a media stop event (e.g., record 715) (block1140). The meter 150 then electronically transmits the stored records tothe metering data receiver 220 of the central facility 170 (block 1145).While in the illustrated example the records are stored at the meter 150and then electronically transmitted to the metering data receiver 220 ofthe central facility 170, the records may be transmitted in any otherfashion. For example, the records may be electronically streamed to thecentral facility 170, the records may be stored and then physicallytransferred (e.g., by mailing the meter 150 to the central facility170).

FIG. 12 is a communication diagram 1200 illustrating an example order ofcommunication for receiving the tagging data of FIG. 8 and the meteringdata of FIG. 7. The example order of communication represents the eventsthat result in the record 1010 of FIG. 10. The example order ofcommunication begins when the second media presentation device 130begins presenting media (block 1205). The second media presentationdevice 130 transmits a DNS query to the associated DNS query processor232, and the DNS query processor 232 stores the DNS query and/orinformation associated therewith in the DNS data store 235 (block 1210).The second media presentation device 130 requests the media from theservice provider identified by the DNS query and begins presenting themedia.

The meter 150 of the illustrated example identifies and records themedia start event (e.g., record 720) (block 1215). Because the mediaincludes a tagging instruction, the second media presentation device 130transmits the tagging information to the tag data receiver 240 (block1220). The tag data receiver 240 stores the received tag data in thetagging data store 245. Meanwhile, the meter 150 attempts to identifythe presented media (block 1230). In the illustrated example, the meter150 does not identify the media. The meter 150 might not identify themedia for any number of reasons such as, for example, an audio and/orvideo signal associated with the media presentation is not loud enoughto facilitate identification of a code and/or signature, the mediapresentation device (e.g., a tablet, a laptop, etc.) may not be near themeter 150, etc. The media presentation device 130 ends the mediapresentation (block 1235). Responsive to the end of the mediapresentation, the meter 150 identifies and records a media stop event(e.g., record 725) (block 1240). The meter 150 then electronicallytransmits the stored records to the metering data receiver 220 of thecentral facility 170 (block 1245). While in the illustrated example therecords are stored at the meter 150 and then electronically transmittedto the metering data receiver 220 of the central facility 170, therecords may be transmitted in any other fashion. For example, therecords may be electronically streamed to the central facility 170, therecords may be stored and then physically transferred (e.g., by mailingthe meter 150 to the central facility 170).

While in the illustrated example, the presentation by the mediapresentation device 130 (e.g., a gaming console) is detected asstreaming media from a media provider (e.g., Hulu.com), the mediapresentation device 130 may be involved in any other type of mediapresentation such as, for example, a game (e.g., a video game played byan Xbox, etc.). As such, the correlator may identify that media was notstreamed, and that the media presentation device 130 and/or the panelist310 should be credited with playing the game.

While an example manner of implementing the meter 150 of FIG. 1 and/orthe central facility 170 of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 has been illustrated inFIGS. 1 and/or 2, one or more of the elements, processes and/or devicesillustrated in FIGS. 1 and/or 2 may be combined, divided, re-arranged,omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, theexample network communicator 152, the example media identifier 154, theexample timestamper 156, the example metering data store 158, theexample meter 150, the example registrar 210, the example metering datareceiver 220, the example query processors 230, 232, the example tagdata receiver 240, the example timestamper 250, the example correlator255, the example audience measurement processor 260, the examplereporter 270, and/or, more generally, the example central facility 170of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmwareand/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, forexample, any of the example network communicator 152, the example mediaidentifier 154, the example timestamper 156, the example metering datastore 158, the example meter 150, the example registrar 210, the examplemetering data receiver 220, the example query processors 230, 232, theexample tag data receiver 240, the example timestamper 250, the examplecorrelator 255, the example audience measurement processor 260, theexample reporter 270, and/or, more generally, the example centralfacility 170 of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 could be implemented by one or morecircuit(s), programmable processor(s), application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), etc. When any of the apparatusor system claims of this patent are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example networkcommunicator 152, the example media identifier 154, the exampletimestamper 156, the example metering data store 158, the example meter150, the example registrar 210, the example metering data receiver 220,the example query processors 230, 232, the example tag data receiver240, the example timestamper 250, the example correlator 255, theexample audience measurement processor 260, the example reporter 270,and/or the example central facility 170 of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 are herebyexpressly defined to include a tangible computer readable medium such asa memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, etc. storing the software and/or firmware.Further still, the example network communicator 152, the example mediaidentifier 154, the example timestamper 156, the example metering datastore 158, the example meter 150, the example registrar 210, the examplemetering data receiver 220, the example query processors 230, 232, theexample tag data receiver 240, the example timestamper 250, the examplecorrelator 255, the example audience measurement processor 260, theexample reporter 270, and/or the example central facility 170 of FIGS. 1and/or 2 may include one or more elements, processes and/or devices inaddition to, or instead of, those illustrated in FIGS. 1 and/or 2,and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustratedelements, processes and devices.

Flowcharts representative of example machine-readable instructions forimplementing the example meter 150 of FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 13and/or 14. Flowcharts representative of example machine-readableinstructions for implementing the example central facility 170 of FIGS.1 and/or 2 are shown in FIGS. 15 and/or 16. In these examples, themachine-readable instructions comprise program(s) for execution by aprocessor such as the processor 1712 shown in the example processorplatform 1700 discussed below in connection with FIG. 17. The programmay be embodied in software stored on a tangible computer-readablemedium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digitalversatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with theprocessor 1712, but the entire program and/or parts thereof couldalternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 1712and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although theexample program is described with reference to the flowchart illustratedin FIGS. 13, 14, 15, and/or 16, many other methods of implementing theexample meter 150 and/or the example central facility 170 mayalternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocksmay be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed,eliminated, or combined.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 13, 14, 15, and/or 16may be implemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer-readableinstructions) stored on a tangible computer-readable medium such as ahard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a compactdisk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a cache, a random-accessmemory (RAM) and/or any other storage media in which information isstored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently,brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of theinformation). As used herein, the term tangible computer-readable mediumis expressly defined to include any type of computer-readable storageand to exclude propagating signals. Additionally or alternatively, theexample processes of FIGS. 13, 14, 15, and/or 16 may be implementedusing coded instructions (e.g., computer-readable instructions) storedon a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a hard disk drive,a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatiledisk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any other storage media inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/orfor caching of the information). As used herein, the term non-transitorycomputer-readable medium is expressly defined to include any type ofcomputer-readable medium and to exclude propagating signals. As usedherein, when the phrase “at least” is used as the transition term in apreamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term“comprising” is open ended. Thus, a claim using “at least” as thetransition term in its preamble may include elements in addition tothose expressly recited in the claim.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart representative of example machine-readableinstructions 1300 which may be executed to implement the example meterof FIG. 1 to identify media presentation events and/or identifypresented media. The machine-readable instructions 1300 of FIG. 13 beginexecution at block 1305 when the media identifier 154 determines if amedia event is detected (block 1305). The media event is detected whenthe media identifier 154 detects one or more aspects of media (e.g.,audio) being presented by a media presentation device. Any method ofidentifying a media presentation event such as, for example, monitoringfor infrared commands to a media presentation device from a remotecontrol, listening for audio, receiving an indication of a mediapresentation event from the media presentation device via an ApplicationProgramming Interface (API), etc. may be employed.

If a media presentation event is not detected, the media identifier 154continues to attempt to identify a media presentation event (block1305). If a media presentation event is detected, the media identifier154 stores an indication of the media presentation event in the meteringdata store 158 (block 1310). In the illustrated example, the mediaidentifier 154 stores a panelist identifier, an identifier of the event(e.g., a media start event, a media stop event), and an identified mediapresentation device. The timestamper 156 stores a timestamp of the mediapresentation event (block 1315).

The media identifier 154 determines whether the recorded mediapresentation event indicates that the media presentation event was amedia start event (block 1317). If the media presentation event was nota media start event, control returns to block 1305 where the mediaidentifier continues to determine if a media event is detected (block1305). If the media presentation event was a media start event, themedia presenter 154 attempts to identify the presented media (block1320). In the illustrated example, the media presenter attempts toidentify the presented media by detecting codes and/or signaturesassociated with the presented media. However any other method ofidentifying the presented media may additionally or alternatively beused such as, for example, by detecting an identifier of the mediathrough an API of the media presentation device, etc.

If the presented media is not identified by the media identifier 154(block 1325), control proceeds to block 1305 where the media identifier154 continues to determine if a media event is detected. If thepresented media is identified by the media identifier 154 (block 1325),the media identifier stores an indication of the identified media (block1330). The timestamper 156 stores a timestamp in association with theidentified media (block 1335). The media identifier then determines if amedia event is detected (block 1305).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart representative of example machine-readableinstructions 1400 which may be executed to implement the example meterof FIG. 1 to transmit records stored by the meter 150 (e.g. the recordsof FIG. 7) to the example central facility 170 of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. Themachine-readable instructions 1400 of FIG. 14 begin execution at block1405 when the network communicator 152 determines whether a storagethreshold has been exceeded (block 1405). In the illustrated example,the threshold is a time limit specifying that stored records aretransmitted once every day. Additionally or alternatively, any otherperiodic and/or aperiodic approach to triggering transmission of datafrom the meter 150 may be used. For example, the storage threshold mightbe based on an amount of records of identified media stored in themetering data store 158 (e.g., ten megabytes of records, one hundredrecords, etc.).

If the storage threshold has not been exceeded (block 1405) the networkcommunicator 152 waits until the storage threshold has been exceeded.When the storage threshold has been exceeded (block 1405), the networkcommunicator 152 transmits the stored records (e.g., data that can beused to identify the media and/or the name(s) of the identified media,etc.) to the central facility 170. In the illustrated example, thenetwork communicator 152 transmits the stored records via the Internet.However, in some examples, the network communicator 152 transmits thestored records via a cellular telecommunication connection, via theplain old telephone system (POTS), or via a local connection such as,for example, a serial connection, a universal serial bus (USB)connection, a Bluetooth connection, etc. In some examples, the meter 150may be physically moved to a location of the central facility 170 by,for example, physically mailing the meter 150, physically mailing aremovable memory of the meter 150 (e.g., the metering data store 158),etc. to facilitate data extraction from the same.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart representative of example machine-readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the example centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 to receive audience measurement data. Themachine-readable instructions 1500 of FIG. 15 begin execution at block1505 when the metering data receiver 220 receives and stores themetering data in the metering data store 225 (block 1505). In theillustrated example, the metering data receiver 220 receives themetering data via the Internet. However, in some examples, the meteringdata store 225 receives the metering data via a cellulartelecommunication connection, via the plain old telephone system (POTS),or via a local connection such as, for example, a serial connection, auniversal serial bus (USB) connection, a Bluetooth connection, etc.

The query processors 230, 232 receive and store the DNS data in the DNSdata store 235 (block 1510). In the illustrated example, the DNS data isreceived by the query processors 230, 232 as the DNS queries of themedia presentation devices 125, 130 are made (e.g., streamed). However,in some examples, the DNS data may be stored (e.g., cached, buffered,etc.) at a location other than the central facility 170 such as, forexample, at a third party DNS provider, at the media presentationdevices 125, 130, etc. and may be periodically and/or aperiodicallytransferred to the central facility 170.

The tag data receiver 240 receives and stores the tagging data in thetagging data store 245 (block 1515). The tagging data identifies thepresented media based on tag(s) embedded in and/or associated withpresented media. The media presentation devices 125, 130 and/orapplications associated with the media presentation devices 125, 130report the tagging data to the tag data receiver 240. In the illustratedexample, the tagging data is received by the tag data receiver 240 asthe media presentation devices 125, 130 transmit the tagging data (e.g.,streamed). However, in some examples, the tagging data may be stored(e.g., cached, buffered, etc.) by the media presentation devices 125,130 and may be transmitted periodically and/or aperiodically to the tagdata receiver 240.

The timestamper 250 inspects the received data (e.g., the metering data,the DNS data, the tagging data, etc.) and applies timestamps to thereceived data (block 1520). Among other things, timestamping (e.g.,recording a time and/or date that an event occurred) facilitatesaccurate identification of media at the central facility 170 by, forinstance, reducing a search space for matching a reference database ofcodes and/or signatures. When the received data is streamed,timestamping at the central facility 170 alleviates the meter 150 and/orthe media presentation devices 125, 130 from having to timestamp themetering data and/or tagging data.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart representative of example machine-readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the example centralfacility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 to correlate the received audiencemeasurement data of FIG. 15. The machine-readable instructions 1600 ofFIG. 16 begin execution at block 1605 when the correlator 255 identifiesmedia presentation start and stop events (block 1605). The correlator255 identifies media presentation start and stop events that occurred onthe same media presentation device 125, 130 as indicated by the meteringdata. Identifying media presentation events associated with the samedevice enables the correlator 255 to isolate a timeframe of when themedia might have been identified by tagging data, when the media mighthave been identified by metering data, and/or when the media providermight have been identified by DNS data. The correlator 255 identifiesthe media presentation device 125, 130 based on the corresponding DNSdata (block 1610).

To identify the media presentation device 125, 130 via the DNS data, thecorrelator 225 identifies DNS requests made by the media presentationdevice 125, 130 associated with the panelist between timestamps of thestart and stop media presentation events. In some examples, thecorrelator 255 identifies DNS requests that were made by the mediapresentation device 125, 130 outside of the presentation window (e.g.,one minute, two minutes, fifteen minutes, one hour, etc.) as, forexample, the media presentation device 125, 130 may have requested a DNSrecord of the media provider 105 prior to the presentation of the media.In some examples, the correlator 255 may identify a DNS record within anapproximate timeframe of the media presentation start event (e.g.,within one minute of the media presentation start event, within twominutes of the media presentation start event, within fifteen minutes ofthe media presentation start event, within one hour of the mediapresentation start event, etc.). The correlator 255 identifies the mediasource based on the DNS data (block 1615). The correlator 255 identifiesthe media source based on the DNS data by performing a look of thedomain name that was requested by the media presentation device 125,130.

The audience measurement processor 260 determines if the presented mediawas identified by the metering data (block 1620). If the media wasidentified by the metering data (block 1620), the audience measurementprocessor 260 credits the panelist with exposure to the identified mediafrom the identified source (e.g., the media provider 105) via theidentified media presentation device 125, 130 (block 1625). If the mediawas not identified by the metering data (block 1620), the audiencemeasurement processor 260 determines if the presented media wasidentified by the tagging data (block 1630). If the media was identifiedby the tagging data, the audience measurement processor 260 credits thepanelist with exposure to the identified media from the identifiedsource (e.g., the media provider 105) via the identified mediapresentation device 125, 130 (block 1625). If the media was notidentified by the tagging data (e.g., identified by neither the taggingdata nor the metering data), the audience measurement processor 260credits the panelist with exposure to media from the identified source(e.g., the media provider 105) via the identified media presentationdevice 125, 130 (block 1625). In some examples, the panelist is creditedwith a duration of exposure based on the media presentation start andstop events.

The correlator 255 then identifies whether additional media presentationevents are to be identified (block 1640). If additional mediapresentation events are to be identified, control proceeds to block 1605where the correlator 255 identifies the additional media presentationevents (block 1605). If no additional media presentation events are tobe identified the example instructions of FIG. 16 terminate.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1700 capableof executing the example machine-readable instructions of FIGS. 13, 14,15, and/or 16 to implement the example system of FIG. 1 and/or theexample central facility of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. The processor platform1700 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a mobile phone(e.g., a cell phone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internetappliance, a DVD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, agaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, or any othertype of computing device.

The system 1700 of the instant example includes a processor 1712. Forexample, the processor 1712 can be implemented by one or moremicroprocessors or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer.

The processor 1712 includes a local memory 1713 (e.g., a cache) and isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1714 anda non-volatile memory 1716 via a bus 1718. The volatile memory 1014 maybe implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM) and/or any other type of random access memory device. Thenon-volatile memory 1716 may be implemented by flash memory and/or anyother desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1714,and/or 1716 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1700 also includes an interface circuit 1720. Theinterface circuit 1720 may be implemented by any type of interfacestandard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB),and/or a PCI express interface.

One or more input devices 1722 are connected to the interface circuit1720. The input device(s) 1722 permit a user to enter data and commandsinto the processor 1712. The input device(s) can be implemented by, forexample, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball,isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

One or more output devices 1724 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 1720. The output devices 1724 can be implemented, for example,by display devices (e.g., a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tubedisplay (CRT), a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 1720,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card.

The interface circuit 1720 also includes a communication device (e.g.,the network communicator 152) such as a modem or network interface cardto facilitate exchange of data with external computers via a network1726 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), atelephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

The processor platform 1700 also includes one or more mass storagedevices 1728 for storing software and data. Examples of such massstorage devices 1728 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks,compact disk drives and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives. The massstorage device 1728 may implement the example metering data store 158,the example panelist information data store 215, the example meteringdata store 225, the example DNS data store 235, and/or the exampletagging data store 245.

The coded instructions 1732 of FIGS. 13, 14, 15, and/or 16 may be storedin the mass storage device 1728, in the volatile memory 1714, in thenon-volatile memory 1716, and/or on a removable storage medium such as aCD or DVD.

From the foregoing, it will appreciate that example methods, apparatusand/or articles of manufacture disclosed herein enable correlation ofaudience measurement data from multiple sources for accurate monitoringof media presentations.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to monitor media presentations, themethod comprising: identifying a media presentation device associatedwith a Domain Name Service (DNS) query based on a public InternetProtocol (IP) address that originated the DNS query and a destinationaddress of the DNS query; identifying a media source based on a domainname requested in the DNS query; attempting to identify media presentedin association with the DNS query based on at least one of tagging dataand metering data; crediting, with a processor, a panelist associatedwith the media presentation device with exposure to the identified mediafrom the media source via the media presentation device when the mediais identified; and crediting, with the processor, the panelistassociated with the media presentation device with exposure to mediafrom the media source via the media presentation device when the mediais not identified.
 2. The method as described in claim 1, furthercomprising: identifying a media presentation start event and a mediapresentation stop event based on the metering data; and crediting thepanelist with exposure to the media for a duration of time between themedia presentation start event and the media presentation stop event. 3.The method as described in claim 1, wherein the metering data comprisesan identifier of the presented media.
 4. The method as described inclaim 3, wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a code, asignature, or metadata of the identified media.
 5. The method asdescribed in claim 3, wherein the metering data does not enableidentification of the media source.
 6. The method as described in claim3, further comprising receiving the metering data from a meter installedat a media presentation location.
 7. The method as described in claim 1,wherein the tagging data comprises an identifier of the presented media.8. The method as described in claim 1, wherein the tagging datacomprises metadata associated with the presented media.
 9. An apparatusto monitor media presentations, the apparatus comprising: at least twoDomain Name Service (DNS) query processors to receive DNS queries fromrespective media presentation devices associated with a public Internetprotocol (IP) address, the DNS queries identifying the public IPaddress, an address of the respective DNS query processor receiving theDNS query, and a requested domain name associated with a media provider;a metering data receiver to receive metering data from a meter installedin proximity to the media presentation devices, the metering data toidentify the media presented by the media presentation devices; a tagdata receiver to receive tagging data from the media presentationdevices, the tagging data identifying the media presented by the mediapresentation devices; and a correlator to correlate the DNS queries withat least one of the metering data and the tagging data to identify mediapresented by the respective media presentation devices and the mediaprovider providing the media.
 10. The apparatus as described in claim 9,further comprising a timestamper to timestamp at least one of thereceived DNS queries, the metering data, and the tagging data.
 11. Theapparatus as described in claim 9, further comprising a registrar to:associate the at least two DNS query processors with respective ones ofthe media presentation devices; and associate a record of the public IPaddress with the media presentation device.
 12. The apparatus asdescribed in claim 9, further comprising an audience measurementprocessor to credit a respective one of the media presentation deviceswith exposure to media from the media provider.
 13. The apparatus asdescribed in claim 12, further comprising a reporter to generatesreports indicative of media exposure metrics based on the creditedexposure.
 14. A machine-readable storage medium comprising instructionswhich, when executed, cause a machine to at least: identify a mediapresentation device associated with a Domain Name Service (DNS) querybased on a public Internet Protocol (IP) address that originated the DNSquery and a destination address of the DNS query; identify a mediasource based on a domain name requested in the DNS query; attempt toidentify media presented in association with the DNS query based on atleast one of tagging data and metering data; credit a panelistassociated with the media presentation device with exposure to theidentified media from the media source via the media presentation devicewhen the media is identified; and credit the panelist associated withthe media presentation device with exposure to media from the mediasource via the media presentation device when the media is notidentified.
 15. The machine-readable storage medium as described inclaim 14, further comprising instructions which, when executed, causethe machine to at least: identify a media presentation start event and amedia presentation stop event based on the metering data; and credit thepanelist with exposure to the media for a duration of time between themedia presentation start event and the media presentation stop event.16. The machine-readable storage medium as described in claim 14,wherein the metering data comprises an identifier of the presentedmedia.
 17. The machine-readable storage medium as described in claim 16,wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a code, a signature, ormetadata of the identified media.
 18. The machine-readable storagemedium as described in claim 16, wherein the metering data does notenable identification of the media source.
 19. The machine-readablestorage medium as described in claim 16, further comprising instructionswhich, when executed, cause the machine to receive the metering datafrom a meter installed at a media presentation location.
 20. Themachine-readable storage medium as described in claim 14, wherein thetagging data comprises an identifier of the presented media.